The SIPA Annual Conference steering committee plays a vital role in planning and shaping the event. We thank the following thought leaders for their work on the 2015 conference:

Cindy Carter, President, FDANews

Cindy Carter is president and CEO of FDAnews, an information company serving the pharmaceutical, medical device and clinical trial communities. She also is a partner and past president of Healthcare Intelligence Network, a joint venture of several healthcare publishers.

Ed Coburn is Chief Strategy Officer & Lead Consultant for the Mequoda Group, where he works with a wide range of publishers on digital publishing and marketing programs. A past president of SIPA and a member of the SIIA Content Division Board, he has spoken at numerous media and publishing conferences on a wide range of topics. Previously Ed was at Harvard Health Publications where he was the Publishing Director, Managing Director at Circadian Information, Group Publisher at Cutter Information Corp., and a marketing manager at Cahners Publishing Company. He is a graduate of Cornell University and the Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. You can find his profile on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/EdCoburn.

Benny Dicecca,CEO, Wellesley Information Services, a division of UCG

Benny DiCecca is the Chief Executive Officer of Wellesley Information Services (a United Communications Group company) based in Dedham, MA. Benny joined WIS in 1999, and has since held senior management and leadership positions of increasingly responsibility. Benny was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer in 2005 before assuming overall responsibility as CEO in 2007.

Benny has more than 25 years of experience in sales and marketing and 15+ years of experience in the events industry. Early in his career, he was infused into struggling companies’ sales and marketing organizations, tasked with re-establishing positive cash flow and productivity. Benny created a reputation for taking on these near-bankrupt companies and restoring them to profitability by increasing sales, instilling process and personnel efficiencies, and reducing expense. He built his unique management style and business acumen by embracing these challenges and growing successful, profitable organizations.

Heather Farley, Divisional President, Access Intellegence

Heather leads the strategic direction and revenue growth objectives across AI. She works closely with her division leaders to identify, acquire and integrate synergistic businesses as well as create strong organic growth through new product launches. Additionally, as a member of Access Intelligence’s Board of Directors, Heather plays an integral role in ensuring that the vision and mission of AI’s core strategic initiatives are successfully executed across all operating units. Heather is a recognized leader in the b2b community and a member of the SIPA Board of Directors. In her tenure at AI, Heather has worked on more than two dozen acquisitions and countless product launches. Her expertise in both direct marketing and paid content have been instrumental in the company’s dynamic transition from a traditional b2b media provider to an integrated global media company comprised primarily of face-to-face events and online members-based communities. Prior to Access Intelligence, Heather was a senior vice president and group publisher with Phillips Publishing International, where she began her publishing career in 1988.

David Foster, CEO, BVR

David Foster is the CEO of Business Valuation Resources, the Portland, OR-based publisher of transaction, legal and other databases for the business valuation profession. Much of BVR's recent growth results from the reinvention of sales, marketing, product development, technology, editorial, pricing, and every other part of operations—changes BVR shares with many SIIA members.

In addition to BVR, Foster was the co-founder of IOMA, Inc., a management publisher he sold to the Bureau of National Affairs in 1998. He has served on the Boards of 14 information industry companies, as well Copyright Clearance Center. He speaks on management and financial trends in the information industry, and he won SIPA’s Hall of Fame Award 2000.